Ade Gafar Abdullah, Reza Nugraha, Mohammad Ali Shafii, Rida Siti Nuraini Mahmudah, Dadang Lukman Hakim, Nandi Nandi, Topan Setiadipura
The Indonesian government has not yet decided on a policy to establish a nuclear power plant (NPP), but it is still important to conduct a feasibility study to find the best location for the NPP site. This research develops a methodology based on geographic information systems (GIS) and hybrid multi-criteria decision making (MCDM), which integrates International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safety standards (SSG-35) with exclusion and discretionary criteria approaches to determine the optimal location for an NPP. Site criteria were established and evaluated through GIS spatial analysis, with weights determined using the best worst method (BWM). Candidate sites were further evaluated using a data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach, and rankings were generated through grey relational analysis (GRA), which was verified with the technique for order of preference by similarity to the ideal solution (TOPSIS) to ensure consistency. A sensitivity analysis was performed to evaluate the robustness of the findings. This study should be understood as a preliminary technical and environmental screening of candidate NPP locations rather than a full feasibility siting decision, as social and economic considerations were not explicitly incorporated in the present analysis. The analysis results indicate that the seismicity (SM) criterion holds the highest priority, assigned a weight value of 0.2378, with capable faults (CF) and cooling water (CW) following in importance. On the other hand, we regard the electricity network as the least significant criterion, assigning it a weight value of 0.0259. The potential suitability map for NPP indicates that Kalimantan Island has a suitability level of 2.93% of the total potential area. The sensitivity analysis strongly supports the Permata area as the most suitable site for NPP establishment within the study area. This method is anticipated to be utilized for determining NPP locations in multiple countries, and it is hoped that decision-makers will take this approach into account during feasibility studies for NPP establishment across different nations. Copyright © 2026 Ade Gafar Abdullah et al. International Journal of Energy Research published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
School of Postgraduate Studies, Indonesia University of Education, West Java, Bandung, Indonesia; Department of Physics, Andalas University, West Sumatra, Padang, Indonesia; Department of Physics, Yogyakarta State University, Special Region of Yogyakarta, Yogyakarta, Indonesia; Department of Geography Education, Indonesia University of Education, West Java, Bandung, Indonesia; Research Center for Nuclear Reactor Technology, National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Central Jakarta, Indonesia
